Witch Hats
Solarium Down The Causeway
6 Track, EP (2009, Z-Man)
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Related: Witch Hats.
Sometimes the best bands take a while to truly come into their own. It can be an arduous process for any songwriter to discover exactly what their own voice is. In the case of Melbourne band Witch Hats’ primary songwriter Kris Buscombe, those who have followed his development through early releases like Wound Of A Little Horse and Cellulite Soul always knew that he had the potential to develop into an original talent capable of dropping a stone-cold classic one day.
As the echoes of Witch Hats’ influences recede ever further, the band adopt a devil-may-care attitude to writing and recording that sees them get messier, yet strangely more focused. The EP format is perfect for such an approach, never allowing the songs to get bogged down in their on scuzz, but instead letting each of the six numbers breathe individually, and as part of a cohesive cycle.
It’s significant that a lyric sheet is included, as Buscombe hones his stream-of-unconsciousness monologues into giddy narratives of everyday squalor: “With prune skin arms and dirt in my veins/I looked nothing like my ultra-sound.” His insights hover somewhere between dirty realism and surrealist hallucination. The deliberate derangement of the senses extends to the music itself. There is a sloppy urgency to the magnificent ‘Stomach In Your Hair’, a rollicking see-saw rhythm that mimics the unstable gait of the protagonist as he stumbles from one hangover to the next.
Then there’s the cinema noir snapshot of ‘Sessa (Son Of A Silo Salesman)’, its James M Cain Americana the only direct reference to the US tour that inspired this group of songs. From the bloody aftermath of a crime, the EP wraps up with ‘I Am Parolling’, as good a metaphor for a brave new beginning as any.
The guitar sounds produced by Buscombe and Tom Barry are suitably demented, sometimes staring sullenly at opposite corners of the room, sometimes taking a frenzied run at each other and reeling with bloodied foreheads. This is how all rock’n’roll should be: bloody-minded and unrepentant. Brother Ash Buscombe drives his juggernaut bass straight through the heart of each tune, adding solidity and anchorage when things threaten to spiral out of control, and the drums hang on for dear life.
In the end, Solarium Down The Causeway is a transitional work in Witch Hats’ process of maturation, but one that may well be regarded as a signpost of future greatness. It may well be to Witch Hats’ career as the Helicon Days mini-album was to the catalogue of Crow: the “Eureka” moment where by loosening up and relaxing, a band realises their strengths and manages to transform themselves before writing their definitive album.
by René Schaefer
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Is this on vinyl?
I want it.
Yep, 10'' vinyl will be out soon enough.
Will there be copies on Friday?
Not on vinyl, but maybe CD.
Put a copy aside for me JP, I'll pay you.
Will do, the vinyl is still in the works, but we'll have CD's at our show with Love Of Diagrams on Friday at NSC.
Cool, I'll come to that gig. Good lineup
Awesome. Vinyl!!!!!!
just got the 101 from Z-Man, CD's will be avail at fridays show, test press of 10'' has arived today, so the vinyls will be avail in a month or so.
FYI
YAY!!!!!!!!
Save us one JP.
....or I can grab one from Repressed or something.
I'll get some CD's and 10''s in Repressed when I'm up next, which isn't far off.
You doin' any Sydney shows. I was contemplating coming down to The Harp in Wollongong...but I probably won't.
Yep, we'll put up tour launch dates when we've got it all sorted, but Sydney is on the list.
Cool. If yer looking for a band to play with....
I want a 10''...ta!
where can i order this CD online?
You could try asking Z-Man Records http://www.myspace.com/zmanrecords
I've been told there are some in Missing Link too, so you could order through there.
Let me know if you have no luck with those and I'll see what I can do.
will ya sell me a test pressing?
looks live they've given you two songs to listen to now.
Tom Caswell, thats the one your after buddy.
Ben, yeah, you can buy it off me in 20ys on ebay.
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I hear that....
Thanks also.
Playing tonight (Friday 15th) at the Corner with Children Collide & East Brunswick All Girls Choir.
that song about the son of a silo salesman rules.
After discovering a bunch of old demos on the weekend I added them to the Witch Hats
when I was drunk on Saturday.
I'll leave them up for a week ago if anyones interested.
witch hats myspace
the demo tracks are probably being pulled from the with hats myspace tomorrow.
Have a listen today if you're interested otherwise you'll have to wait for the Witch Hats box set re-issue by Aztec in 2024.
Where will the reunion show be?
A floating hologram of the Tote, on the moon?
The New Old Bar
Dudes,
I dig the 'Doors Film' demo.
Change your name to Wild Sallions!
Station!
Wild Stallions!
Is it possible to get the 10'' in Brisbane?
Don't think so. I can send you one up though.
PM me if you want one.
Also, Last Witch Hats show for a long time due to working on a new album.
This sat @ NSC
w/ Holy Soul + Kim Salmon And The Surrealsists (Doing 'Hit Me With The Surreal Feel' from start to finish)
WH's @ 10:30.
TOMORROW NIGHT
HOLY SOUL
WITCH HATS
KIM SALMON AND THE SURREASLISTS!!!!
I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE INFO OTHER THEN WITCH HATS ARE ON AT 10:30!!!
MIGHT BE A BIT LATE CAUSE I'M SEEING JOHN WATERS BUT I'LL DO MY BEST, IF YOU DO YOURS!
This EP is freaking great.
this is music.
could've sworn it was art.
art for the ears my good man.